Garment



April 29, 1947. ELK|N$ 2,419,8Z 7

GARMENT Filed April 20, 1945 {NVENTOR BY 7*; W

Patented Apr. 29, 1947 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OF FI-CE GARMENT Agnes Alice Elkins; Elyria,0hio

Application April20, 1945; semrno. 589,302

3 Claims. 1.

My invention. relates to'a garment for infants and small children-and relates. more particularly to a. garment which might be-termed a blanket for sleeping and/or walking, or an outer covering for aninfant-or small child to be worn while in hiscrib, orasotherwise desired, and which will permit any normalactivities of the child, as,.for example, sitting, walking, creeping, lying, etc.

It isan object of my invention to provide a fiat blanket type article so shaped that it may be placed around an infant or small child in such manner as to completely cover the child for sleeping without hampering the childs freedom of action in anyway. Hence, the child, upon awakening, may move about in his crib without becoming uncovered.

Prior'art' so-called sleeping bags with which I amfamiliar have generally hampered the childs movement in various/ways and certain of these garments have. been tied to the bed or mattress in some manner. In most of these bags, thearms; have been covered and held at the level of the-shoulder of the child or lower level, but the" child is thereby unable to raise its arms above itshead. Other garments have confined the childto arestricted orbit of movement in his crib-or'bed.- and in practically all garments with which I am familiar the child is anchored in some degree ina definite predetermined position in the crib-or bed.

The garment of my invention moves with the child, completely covering himat alltimes and permitting him to creep, stand, sit, or lie down, to move his arms or legs, or head or body in any way. that. he may chooseand without danger of suffocation or strangling, due-to'mechanical restriations of one kind or another.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will become increasingly apparent from the following descriptionand-drawings, in which drawings:

Fig: l is an enlarged plan view of the garment of my invention showing. the triangular chest protecting portion of suchgarment folded back in position for use;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the garment of Fig. 1 showing the garment in use; certain portions of the garment beingshown in dotted lines to illustrate the underparts of the same; and v Fig. 3 is a. plan view of the garment of my invention in'an open extended position.

With reference to the drawings, Fig. 3 shows the garment of my invention to its open extended flat form, as iorlaundering, etc: It will be noted that'the improved garment-consists in a pentagon shaped= or five sided-piece of blanket material, pref erably, on for asummer garment, light weight knitted cotton orsateen material, or any suitable material for covering a child against exposure similar: to that which would be employed for'a bed c'overingi during any particular season; It-is composed of a triangular portion I and a rectang ula'r portion 2 It is to be noted that the altitude CcZ'o-f th'e triangular portion A'--B-C, formed by: line A to B, B to C, and C't'o A, is slightly; less than the altitude J-Z of the rectangle A'-X-Y--Bu formed by the lines A to X, X to Y, Y to B and B to A, and that the point C of the triangle intersects the-center 1ine'C--e of the garment.

in circular opening l0 of a neck size: suitable: toaccommodate a;- babys or small childsneck' to -be thrust therethroug-h, isprov'ided inthe gar ment centrally of the triangle ABC, describedpreviously herein and a zipper is provided from a the said opening along the. line 1 of altitude to: a

point closely a'd acent the-peak c of thetriangle'," whichpeak C, in the positionof' initial fold'F-G, as shown in Fig. 1, is positioned lower than th'e points A and B of the triangle when the triangle F'C -G' is formed by folding back: said portion of the original triangle, as shown in Fig; l;

A soft'collar Illa preferably of knitted-material is disposed aboutthe neckopening lll 'and at-' tached thereto assuring protection and covering around-theneck;-- It also prevents-any possible chafing or irritationof the" neck;

Hence, when the zipper or other fasteningshown' at H is open and the child's head is placed through the neck and fastener openings l0 and I i the foldedportion of the garment becomesa cover for the shoulders and chest of the child, as shown in Fig-l 3. The fastener ll is then closed and oneedge' By preferably of the rectangle folded in and over the front of the ch'ild to: apoint l2 where: the corner B intersects: approximately: one-third to one-half of i thesldeiF-"C-of the folded' triangle F -C--G; the folded. portion= of the" rectangle thus cooperating withthe-folded triangle to form asleeve; zfli'through which a portion of the: arm and handof the infantor: childmayextend.

ltii'slto be' noted-that the triangular portion: provides thearm; shoulder, chest and small of the back, coveringand that therectangular portion provides the covering: for the remaining, torso andilower limbs, as hereinafter'describedp althoughthesanie saidtriangular-and rectangular portions are united in an integral garment.

The opposite edge A-X' of the garment isthen brought over' thepreviously folded part of the rectangle and the. corner of' the rectangle-intersects a pointl3 approximately 0ne third to 0nehalf the-distance of the side G---C of the-'tri-. angle F--C-=G. Asffastening means; are carried by'the side-A=C- of the-intersecting pore tion of the triangle A-BC at spaced points thereof, as at M and I5, one such means being positioned at point A and one midway between A and F. These are used to fasten the two overlapped folded sides of spaced points l2 and I3 thereof, as above described, to the triangula chest covering. v

The outer front portion of the garment A-X carrying a fastener I6 is then tapered or flared slightly with the mothers hand from the point of fastening l6a to the hem of the garment which has been created by the folding of the garment, as described herein, and is fastened midway of the length of the garment, as shown, wherefore the hem portion of the garment is operatively greater in circumference than the more folded body enveloping portion adjacent theiarms.

Hence, the child has suflicient freedom to move his legs about and at the same time, the overlap of the garment provided is sufficient to keep him covered. Increased effective circumference of the lower edge provides ample room for walking; creeping or other activities. Furthermore, the undergarment or diaper may be changed without removing the child from the garment when sleeping and without the child becoming exposed.

Mothers having charge of babies or small children are familiar with the anxiety and apprehension lest the child become uncovered, catch cold, etc., during sleep, and fear of strangling,

etc.

The garment is preferably made of suitable length so that the feet are well covered at all times. The garmentmay obviously be made in a plurality of sizes to accommodate different age children.

The advantages of this garment are readily apparent and it should be understood that the garment is not restricted to use on small children or babies as it might be used to good effect for-adults in hospitals, for tubercular patients, or-as sleeping bags by soldiers, campers, etc.

I"am further aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made herefrom withoutyhowever, departin from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1.;A one-piece garment adapted to be wrapped about an infant or small child, said garment comprising a isosceles triangular portion and a main body portion, said portions being integrally formed, the triangular portion having a neck opening disposed therein, the said triangular portion adapted to be folded upon itself to form a covering for the upper back, shoulders, arms and chest of the said infant or child, the said fold being macle along a line parallel with the base of said triangle and at slightly more than onehalf the altitudethereof, each of the folded and unfolded side portions of the triangle forming the unitary shoulder and arm coverings and the apex and remaining center portions of the triangle'forming the chest and upper back covering, the head of the child being projected through the neck opening, a pair of spaced fasteners on one of the unfolded sides of the triangle, a main body portion integrally formed with said triangular portion and being generally of rectangular form, the sides of said body portion meeting the equisidesof the triangle and the upper base thereof forming the lower base of the triangle, a second fastener disposed intermediate the one side edge .of the bodyportion contiguous to the side 4 of the triangle carrying the pair of fasteners, the side of the garment comprising the side edges of the triangle and rectangle carrying the fasteners adapted to be overlapped over the opposite side of said garment and said fasteners adapted to be secured to the overlapped opposite side and to said folded triangular "portion forming the chest covering.

2. A one-piece garment adapted to be wrapped about an infant or small child, said garment comprising an isosceles triangular portion and a main body portion, said portions being integrally formed, the triangular portion having a neck opening disposed therein, the said triangular portion adapted to be folded upon itself to form a covering for the upper back, shoulders, arms and chest of the said infant or child, the said fold being made alonga line parallel with the base of said triangle and at slightly more than one-half the altitude thereof, each of the folded and unfolded side portions of the triangle forming the unitary shoulder and arm coverings and the apex and remaining center portions of the triangle forming the chest and upper back covering, the head of the child being projected through the back opening, a main body portion is integrally formed with said triangular portion and being generally of rectangular form, the sides of said body portion meeting the equi-sides of the triangle and the upper base thereof forming the lower base of the triangle, one side of ?the garment adapted to be overlapped over the opposite side of said garment, and fasteners adapted to be secured to the overlapped opposite side and to said folded triangular portion forming the chest covering.

3. A one-piece garment adapted to be wrapped about an infant or small child, said garment comprising a generally isosceles triangular portion and a main body portion, the triangular portion having a neck opening disposed therein,

1; the said triangular portion adapted to be folded upon itself to form a covering for the upper back, shoulders, arms and chest of the said infant or child, the said fold being made along a line parallel with the base of said triangle and at slightly more than one-half the altitude thereof,

each of the folded and unfolded side portions of the triangle forming the unitary shoulder and arm coverings and the apex and remaining center portions of the triangular portion forming '-the chest and upper back covering, said main chest covering portion.

AGNES ALICE ELKINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED. STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,576,023 Barberis Mar. 9, 1926 1,610,799 Lack et a1. Dec. 14, 1926 1,612,541 Lindley Dec. 28, 1926 1,556,747 Bates Oct. 13, 1925 1,811,632 Hummel June 23, 1931 569,521; Scatchard Oct. 13, 1896 

